Police in Fort Worth, Texas say a man was shot and killed last Sunday after breaking into his ex-girlfriend's home, in what appears to be a case of self-defense.

It was just after 11 a.m. Sunday morning when the woman and another man entered her apartment, not realizing that her ex was already inside. Authorities say the man "confronted" his ex and the other man, which led to shots being fired.

The man who was with the woman pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots at the intruder, shooting him at least once, police said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him as 37-year-old Michael James Andree. Police said no arrests have been made and the shooter is cooperating with the homicide investigation.

While the investigation is still ongoing, at this point all of the evidence released by police points to a justified use of force. Under Texas' Castle Doctrine, when someone has broken into your home there's a reasonable belief that the intruder poses a legitimate threat of serious bodily harm or death, and lethal force is generally justified in those circumstances. 

Authorities haven't said if Andree had any weapons on him at the time of the shooting, but even he was unarmed he still could have been able to use his fists and feet to assault his ex or her companion. We don't know if the armed citizen regularly carries or chose to do so because of concerns about Andree's behavior, but the fact that he was able to access a firearm may very well have spared the two from harm. 

It's also unclear whether the woman had taken out an order of protection against Andree, but sadly, we know that while taking that step isn't a bad idea, it's also not a guarantee that an abuser will abide by the law. Just a few hours before this incident in Fort Worth, a woman in Seward, Nebraska was murdered, allegedly by an ex who'd been ordered to have no contact with her.

Officers were dispatched to the Seward home around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, when a child called 911, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

Upon arrival, authorities found 54-year-old Casey Kindt trying to leave. Officers said he sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Kindt had broken into the home, where he fatally shot Jamie Hagen, 36, and then shot himself as the child was present, officers said. Hagen was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds. An investigation revealed Hagen and Kindt were previously in a relationship, and Hagen held a protective order against him, according to state patrol. The order stemmed from a December incident when they were dating, according to court documents obtained by the Lincoln Journal Star. Kindt was arrested on a domestic assault charge after he was accused of banging Hagen’s head on a night stand and pushing her against several pieces of furniture. The news outlet reported Kindt was released from jail the day before officers say he killed Hagen.

I would never discourage a victim of abuse from obtaining an order of protection, but I would also urge them not to rely solely on a piece of paper to keep them safe. Get some training and have a firearm by your side. If you're not comfortable carrying a gun, at least have a non-lethal self-defense tool available, but if you're legitimately in fear for your life I'd argue that it's worth learning how to protect yourself with a firearm, even if that means getting out of your comfort zone. It'd be great if an order of protection was all that was needed to keep victims safe from harm, but that's not the world we live in, and those individuals targeted by stalkers or abusers need to be able to defend themselves even if the courts have ordered their abuser to stay away.